Rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie
(RCD) were on Monday reported to be ready to sign up
to the Lusaka ceasefire agreement under a complicated
arrangement aimed at overcoming the sticking point
of whether the RCD-Goma or RCD-Kisangani factions,
or both, would represent the movement. Political sources
contacted by IRIN on Monday said that after renewed
talks at the weekend between Ugandan President Yoweri
Museveni and Rwandan Vice-President Paul Kagame, and
a meeting between both men and South African Foreign
Minister Nkosazana Zuma, the indications from Kampala
were that there would be 51 RCD signatories, comprising
the general assemblies of both RCD factions. The signing
was virtually confirmed and would take place soon -
if not perhaps as early as Monday, as rumoured, IRIN
sources added.

Regional observers were sceptical about the arrangement,
not only because it was so cumbersome in itself but
also because it raised so many issues in terms of how
to manage military aspects of implementation, representation
at negotiations and the make-up of the Joint Military
Command (JMC) mandated with supervising the ceasefire.
It might be that Museveni and Kagame had agreed between
themselves such issues as the designates to the JMC,
but could also be that they had been pressured into
securing the rebels' signatures and left the modalities
to later diplomatic initiatives, IRIN sources suggested.
In that event, implementation was set to be at least
as difficult as the fraught process of securing the
signatures, they added.

Kisangani faction says Wamba will sign

RCD-Kisangani leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba has travelled
to Lusaka to sign the ceasefire accord, a press release
from the faction stated. Wamba was also stated to be
concerned that "Goma and Kigali might launch another
violent offensive" in Kisangani before the accord
could be signed, and urged regional leaders and the
international community to see that last Tuesday's
ceasefire was respected.

RCD-Goma hints at signature "by the end of the
month"

Tamba Wamba, political spokesman for the RCD-Goma faction,
said on Saturday it was fully committed to the Lusaka
agreement and that he believed the group would sign
the accord "by the end of this month", Gabonese
radio reported. RCD-Goma would sign when the obstacle
concerning Wamba dia Wamba's signature had been removed,
and the situation was "heading towards the removal
of this obstacle", he added.

Kinshasa rejects Bizimungu talks offer

The DRC government has confirmed receiving an invitation
from Rwanda to talks in Kigali, but said it would not
attend until Rwanda had withdrawn its forces from Congolese
territory. Foreign Minister Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi
told Congolese television that Rwandan President Pasteur
Bizimungu had extended the invitation to him during
a lengthy discussion at last week's Southern African
Development Community (SADC) summit in Mozambique.
He said he would have no difficulty going there if
requested to do so by DRC President Laurent Desire
Kabila and if it was for "the cause of peace and
withdrawal", but that it could not happen while
Rwandan forces occupied parts of Congo.

Twenty five countries pledge officers for UN liaison
mission

The military liaison officers needed for the UN team
to be deployed to support the Lusaka peace accord have
been pledged by 25 countries, Assistant Secretary-General
for Peace-Keeping Operations Hedi Annabi said on Friday.
The UN deployment of up to 90 military and civilian
observers, for up to 3 months initially, will be of
four types: deployment to capital cities in the area,
but initially Kinshasa, Kigali and Kampala; to the
Joint Military Commission; to the rear military headquarters
of the belligerents as security permits; and to other
locations within DRC as appropriate, according to IRIN
sources.

A budget has been proposed for the preliminary deployment
of 90 observers, including 11 humanitarian affairs
officers, with special attention being paid to human
rights, child soldiers and other humanitarian issues
considered crucial to the viability of any peace established,
according to IRIN sources. Humanitarian officers would
be deployed to Kinshasa, Lusaka, Kigali, Kampala, Bujumbura
and key locations within the DRC, they said, adding
that the budget proposal included a humanitarian emergency
fund of US$ 500,000.

WHO "amazed at turnout" for vaccination campaign

WHO and UNICEF reported that 8.2 million polio vaccinations
were carried out by over 75,000 volunteer vaccinators
during last week's mass vaccination against the polio
virus, and the figure should be closer to 9 million
once complete data were available, officials said.
Some 10 million children under the age of five had
been targeted. "We have been amazed at the turnout.
Mothers in every village have brought their children
... often walking several kilometres with their infants
on their backs to get this precious vaccine",
a WHO press release stated. DRC, with the most intense
virus transmission in the world, was the single biggest
priority for the global effort to eradicate polio,
it added.

"Catch-up" campaign scheduled for Kisangani

In Kisangani, 70 percent were reported to have been
vaccinated, despite the outbreak of fighting between
Rwandan and Ugandan forces, while mothers and children
earlier trapped in vaccination clinics by the fighting
had managed to return home, WHO reported, adding that
an extra "catch-up" campaign targeting those
children not yet reached was scheduled.

REPUBLIC OF CONGO: $7 million ECHO pledge eases food
gap

Humanitarian sources have informed IRIN that the UN's
country representative no longer sees any "food
gap" in the country after WFP received a pledge
from the European Community Humanitarian Officer (ECHO)
for US $7 million worth of food. This represented half
of the overall requirement of US $14 million outlined
in the consolidated appeal. The food will assist some
200,000 people and should be sufficient until the end
of the year. Meanwhile, in the southwest areas of Nkaye
and Dolisie, the humanitarian community working with
the government are preparing to set up humanitarian
operations to assist returnees. An OCHA mission to
the areas three weeks ago confirmed that local administrations
still needed to be established in both towns. Some
10,000 of a total population of 80,000 people in Dolisie
have returned so far. In Nkaye, roughly 30,000 of a
population of 60,000 people have reportedly returned.

Fighters reported moving through Loukolela

UNHCR and humanitarian workers on the ground on Friday
reported new movement of fighters along the border
between the northern Republic of Congo and DRC. They
reported groups of Congolese and Rwandan armed men
passing through Loukolela, Republic of Congo, in recent
weeks but said there had been no security incidents
at the camp, set up in 1997, where approximately 2,600
Rwandan refugees remain. In all, between 5,000 and
7,000 Rwandans remain in Republic of Congo, a UNHCR
report added. The agency would this week carry out
a second mission further north to Impfondo, to determine
if civilians were crossing over from Equateur province,
DRC, it said, adding that an initial assessment two
weeks ago had turned up no civilian arrivals.

TANZANIA: Number of separated children in camps drops
drastically

Humanitarian sources have recorded a "drastic drop"
in the number of separated children in all camps in
Kigoma region, western Tanzania. Statistics from UNHCR
show that in March 1999 the number of Unaccompanied
Minors (UAMs) registered was 2,248 and the number of
Accompanied Minors (AMs) was 9,185, giving a total
of 11,433. As of 13 August, the number of UAMs registered
in all the camps was 1,938 and the number of AMs 6,932,
giving a total of 8,870. The agency cited successful
reunification between and within camps, repatriation
countries of origin following successful tracing, voluntary
repatriation - mainly with foster families - and children
growing past minor status as reasons for the change.
In a report received by IRIN, it said some 134 children
had been reunified with their parents between March
and August.

RWANDA: New law establishes national police force

Parliament on Friday adopted a law allowing the merger
of the gendarmerie, communal police and judicial police
into a single police force, such as Rwanda has never
had, in order to improve the general organisation and
competency of civil security operations. The move was
intended to assure clear policy-making, management
of human and capital resources, a proper mechanism
for fighting crime and respect for the rights of Rwandans,
a parliamentary statement released to Rwandan radio
stated.

Parliament calls Rwigema to account

Rwandan parliamentarians have started a process by which
they hope to summon Prime Minister Pierre Celestin
Rwigema and other cabinet members to clarify the failure
to resolve the situation of old case-load refugees
and the programme of the government during the additional
four-year transitional period. The Minister of Education,
Emmanuel Mudidi, has also been summoned to explain
the mismanagement of a World Bank project to reconstruct
and rehabilitate schools, RNA reported.

Court considers legality of bishop's detention on genocide
charges

The trial of Bishop Augustin Misago, Gikongoro Diocese,
on genocide-related charges was on Friday deferred
to Wednesday, 25 August, for the court to rule on legal
argument between the prosecution and defence as to
whether the defendant's arrest and detention had been
legal. Misago earlier complained of not having been
given sufficient time to read and understand his 300-page
case file, and requested a two-week delay. The 56-year-old
cleric was charged before a court packed with church
and civilian observers on five counts, including genocide,
crimes against humanity, violation of human rights,
conspiracy to commit genocide and complicity in genocide,
Rwandan radio reported.

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